[unreadable] UTEP proposes continuing support for its Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC) to promote basic research on pathobiological problems prevalent in the Hispanic-majority population along the United States border with Mexico. The institution has assigned priority to research in the fields of infectious diseases, toxicology, and neuroscience and metabolic disorders. UTEP has established Cores corresponding to these three fields. Each will constitute a separate activity involving 20 participants from the Department of Biological Sciences and Psychology. Four of the participants are new faculty members recruited for their potential to establish independently-funded research programs. The proposed funding is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of biomedical research to a nationally competitive level for grant support. The BBRC will increase the cadre of faculty to reach critical mass in the three research Cores. Multi-user research facilities in cell culture, DNA sequencing and analysis, analytical cytology, biomolecular characterization and separation, and statistical consulting will be enhanced and will continue to provide infrastructural support. The goal of the BBRC is to become a center of excellence for research on pathological mechanisms of disease prevalent in the Border region, and to integrate the epidemiological perspective on human health and the applications of biostatistics with basic biomedical research. The BBRC will provide a strong research infrastructure to the doctoral program in the Biological Sciences, so that UTEP can serve as a major point of entry for Hispanics and other underrepresented minorities into the biomedical research mainstream of the nation. [unreadable] [unreadable]